A common question among international job seekers is:

“Why does a European country seem to recruit workers from one nationality more than another?”

For example, why might a particular European employer actively recruit workers from the Philippines, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, or the Western Balkans for certain occupations?

At first glance, this can look like a nationality preference. But immigration and labour-migration systems are more complicated than that.

In many cases, what appears to be a “nationality preference” is actually the result of government-to-government agreements, immigration regulations, labour shortages, recruitment networks, qualification requirements, language skills, existing migration patterns, or employer experience with particular labour markets.

It is therefore important to distinguish between legitimate immigration policy and discriminatory treatment.

First: Nationality Does Not Automatically Determine Whether Someone Can Work in Europe

There is no single European rule saying that one nationality is generally “better” than another for employment.

EU Member States retain significant authority over who can enter their labour markets, particularly for non-EU nationals. The conditions can include:

  • Labour-market tests
  • Annual admission quotas
  • Shortage-occupation lists
  • Salary thresholds
  • Qualification requirements
  • Bilateral agreements
  • Sector-specific rules
  • Employer sponsorship requirements
  • Rules concerning the worker’s country of nationality

The European Commission has also recognised that labour migration is increasingly important because European economies face shortages in several occupations. In June 2026, the Commission launched the EU Talent Pool framework to help connect employers with non-EU jobseekers, particularly for occupations experiencing labour shortages.

This means recruitment decisions are often driven by labour-market needs and immigration policy, rather than a judgment about whether one nationality is inherently more suitable than another.

1. Labour Shortages Can Influence Who Gets Recruited

The most straightforward explanation is demand for workers.

Europe has ageing populations, declining working-age populations in some countries, and shortages in occupations such as:

  • Construction
  • Hospitality
  • Healthcare
  • Manufacturing
  • Transport
  • Agriculture
  • Engineering
  • Skilled trades

When local employers cannot fill vacancies, governments may create or expand pathways for workers from outside the EU.

The European Commission’s 2026 labour-migration initiative specifically identifies international recruitment as a tool for addressing labour shortages.

What does this mean in practice?

Suppose Country A urgently needs hotel workers.

An employer may have previously recruited successfully from the Philippines and already have:

  • Recruitment partners there
  • Workers familiar with the industry
  • English-speaking candidates
  • Established documentation procedures
  • Experience with the country’s immigration system

The employer may therefore recruit heavily from the Philippines.

That does not necessarily mean the country has decided that Filipinos are “better workers.”

It may simply mean that an established recruitment channel already exists.

2. Existing Migration Networks Matter

Migration tends to become self-reinforcing.

When a country has already received a large number of workers from a particular nationality, employers may develop recruitment networks around that community.

Those networks can include:

  • Licensed recruitment agencies
  • Employers with previous experience
  • Community organisations
  • Language training providers
  • Professional networks
  • Workers recommending vacancies to relatives and colleagues

Over time, this can create a situation where one nationality becomes highly represented in a particular sector.

Malta is a good example.

According to Malta’s Jobsplus labour-market statistics, third-country nationals represented approximately 70% of foreign employment at the end of 2025.

The same official statistics identify India, the Philippines and Nepal as the three leading nationalities among employed third-country nationals, with these groups having increased gradually over the period reviewed.

This is important evidence because it demonstrates a real migration pattern without requiring the conclusion that Malta has a general policy declaring these nationalities superior.

Jobsplus also shows that third-country nationals are employed across a wide range of sectors, including professional and support services, transport and storage, accommodation and food services, construction, manufacturing and other activities.

3. Bilateral Agreements Can Create Special Pathways

Sometimes nationality really does matter because the law specifically creates a pathway for nationals of particular countries.

A particularly clear example is Germany’s Western Balkans Regulation.

The German Federal Employment Agency explains that the regulation allows nationals of:

  • Albania
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Kosovo
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Serbia

to take up employment in Germany.

The regulation has existed since 2016, and the annual labour-market admission quota was doubled to 50,000 in mid-2024. Germany’s Federal Employment Agency reported that the quota had already been exhausted by December 2025, with around 18,000 applications having to be rejected at that point because the quota was full.

This is a genuine example where nationality affects access to a specific immigration route.

But the correct explanation is:

Germany created a legal migration pathway specifically covering certain Western Balkan nationals.

It would be inaccurate to describe this as Germany deciding that those nationalities are inherently preferable.

It is an immigration policy mechanism.

4. Countries Can Also Use Annual Quotas

Another reason nationality may appear to influence recruitment is that governments can limit the overall number of foreign workers admitted.

Romania provides a useful example.

Romania has used annual quotas for the admission of foreign workers.

According to the OECD, Romania’s annual quota for foreign workers was 100,000 in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the quota was generally fully utilised. More than 130,000 applications were submitted in 2024, while the General Inspectorate for Immigration issued more than 106,000 work authorisations that year.

Romania’s immigration authorities subsequently reported that more than 94,800 work authorisations had been issued during the first 11 months of 2025, representing approximately 95% of the annual quota. The overwhelming majority were for permanent workers.

In the first two months of 2026, Romania’s immigration authority reported 23,548 work authorisations, including 20,146 issued from the 2026 quota.

When a country has a limited number of places, competition naturally increases.

Recruitment patterns may then favour certain labour markets because employers are actively sourcing candidates from countries where they can find workers who meet the required conditions.

5. Language and Skills Can Create Apparent Nationality Preferences

Sometimes the nationality itself is not the real factor.

Instead, it can be a proxy for a particular skill or language profile.

For example, an employer recruiting for a customer-facing hospitality position may require:

  • Strong English
  • Experience in international hotels
  • Customer-service skills
  • Specific qualifications

If a particular international labour market has a large pool of candidates with those characteristics, employers may recruit heavily there.

Similarly, a construction company may repeatedly recruit from a country where it can find experienced welders, electricians, mechanics or other tradespeople.

The important distinction is:

Nationality ≠ skill.

A nationality may become strongly represented in a particular occupation because of historical recruitment patterns, training systems, language skills, or established migration networks.

6. Employers Often Prefer Established Recruitment Channels

Imagine a European company has successfully recruited 100 workers from Country X.

The company already knows:

  • Which documents candidates need
  • Which qualifications are common
  • Which recruitment agencies are reliable
  • How long the process usually takes
  • How to communicate with candidates
  • How to arrange accommodation and onboarding

When the company needs another 50 workers, it may return to the same recruitment market.

This can create a cycle:

Successful recruitment → established network → more recruitment → larger community → easier future recruitment.

This is one reason why a particular nationality can become prominent in a country’s workforce.

7. A Real Example: Croatia

Croatia provides another useful example of how labour demand and migration networks can shape nationality patterns.

According to Croatian government data cited in an official integration policy report, 206,529 stay-and-work permits were issued in 2024.

The largest groups included:

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — 38,100
  • Nepal — 35,635
  • Serbia — 27,988
  • India — 20,502
  • Philippines — 14,680
  • Bangladesh — 13,630

The largest employment sectors were:

  • Construction — 75,071 permits
  • Tourism and hospitality — 56,228
  • Industry — 28,486
  • Transport and communications — 16,149
  • Trade — 7,925

These figures show something important.

Croatia’s foreign-worker population is not dominated by one single nationality. Several nationalities are represented because different sectors and employers have developed different recruitment channels.

For example, construction has historically attracted workers from neighbouring countries and other established labour-migration markets, while hospitality employers may recruit internationally for seasonal and year-round positions.

8. Sometimes the Rules Can Become More Restrictive for Specific Nationalities

The relationship works both ways.

A country can also restrict or suspend access for certain nationalities under its immigration legislation.

Hungary provides a recent example.

Hungarian immigration authorities explained that the rules for guest-worker residence permits were amended with effect from 5 June 2026. Under the amended rules, new applications for guest-worker residence permits became unavailable because no third countries were then eligible under that specific category. Applications already initiated under the previous rules were treated differently.

This illustrates why recruitment information must always be checked against current immigration law.

A nationality that was eligible under a particular immigration route in one year may not necessarily remain eligible under the same route later.

9. “Prioritised” Does Not Always Mean “Guaranteed”

This is one of the most important points for job seekers.

Even where a nationality benefits from a special programme, quota, bilateral arrangement or established recruitment route, an individual candidate still has to satisfy the applicable requirements.

Depending on the country and visa category, this may include:

  • Genuine employment contract
  • Valid passport
  • Appropriate qualifications
  • Relevant work experience
  • Salary requirements
  • Health or insurance requirements
  • Employer eligibility
  • Labour-market requirements
  • Police clearance or other documents
  • Visa and residence requirements

A candidate from a “preferred” recruitment market can still be refused if they do not meet the legal requirements.

Likewise, a candidate from a country that is not commonly recruited from may still obtain a work permit if they meet the relevant conditions.

10. Is This Racist or Discriminatory?

This is where careful language matters.

Nationality-based immigration rules are not automatically evidence of racism.

Governments regularly distinguish between categories of migrants for legitimate administrative and economic reasons, such as:

  • Labour shortages
  • Bilateral agreements
  • Reciprocity
  • Qualification requirements
  • Security and migration-management arrangements
  • Annual quotas
  • Sector-specific labour needs
  • Existing legal frameworks

However, that does not mean every form of nationality-based treatment is automatically acceptable.

Employers and recruiters should not make degrading assumptions about people based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or other personal characteristics.

A responsible recruitment approach should focus on:

skills + qualifications + experience + language ability + legal eligibility + genuine labour-market demand.

11. Nationality Can Be Relevant Legally — But It Should Not Become a Stereotype

There is an important difference between saying:

“This immigration programme is currently available to nationals of these countries.”

and saying:

“People from these countries are better workers.”

The first can be a statement about immigration law.

The second is an unsupported stereotype.

For recruitment professionals, this distinction is extremely important.

A candidate should not be rejected merely because of assumptions about their nationality when they otherwise meet the legal and professional requirements.

12. What Should Job Seekers Look At Instead?

Instead of asking:

“Which nationality is preferred?”

a better question is:

“Which legal immigration routes are currently available for my nationality, profession and destination country?”

Candidates should examine:

1. The country

What are its current immigration rules?

2. The occupation

Is the profession on a shortage list or otherwise eligible?

3. The employer

Is the employer legally able to sponsor foreign workers?

4. The contract

Is the employment genuine and compliant with local law?

5. The immigration category

Is it a standard work permit, seasonal permit, skilled-worker route, guest-worker route or another category?

6. The nationality rules

Does the specific immigration category impose nationality-based eligibility conditions?

7. Current regulations

Have the rules recently changed?

This final point is particularly important because immigration policies can change quickly.

The Bigger Picture: Europe Needs Workers, But Migration Is Being Managed

Europe’s approach to labour migration is increasingly about finding a balance between two objectives:

Protecting the domestic labour market

and

Filling genuine labour shortages.

The European Commission’s 2026 initiatives reflect this balance. The EU is developing mechanisms to facilitate international recruitment for shortage occupations while also strengthening protections for third-country workers. The revised Single Permit framework, for example, includes stronger protections for non-EU workers and provisions allowing workers to change employers under certain conditions.

This means European labour migration is not simply about “which nationality a country likes.”

It is a combination of:

Economic demand + immigration policy + labour law + bilateral relationships + employer demand + skills + recruitment networks.

Final Takeaway

If you notice that a European country appears to recruit more workers from certain nationalities, do not immediately assume that the reason is racial preference.

Look deeper.

There may be:

  • A bilateral agreement
  • A special immigration programme
  • An annual quota
  • A shortage occupation
  • A large established diaspora
  • Existing recruitment partnerships
  • Language or qualification patterns
  • Employer experience
  • Government-to-government cooperation

The same country may also change its policy later and reduce or suspend access for a particular nationality or immigration category.

For this reason, immigration rules should always be checked according to the destination country, job category, nationality and date of application.

The key principle is simple:

A nationality can be relevant to an immigration rule without defining a person’s ability, character or value as a worker.

Responsible international recruitment should therefore focus on legal eligibility, skills, qualifications, experience and genuine labour-market demand—not stereotypes.

For anyone considering a European work opportunity, the safest approach is to verify the current immigration rules through official government sources before making a decision.

Official & Reliable Sources

European Commission — Labour migration and EU Talent Pool
European Commission: Addressing worker shortages by attracting global talent

Germany — Federal Employment Agency: Western Balkans Regulation
German Federal Employment Agency: Skilled Immigration Act and Western Balkans Rule

Malta — Jobsplus: Foreign Nationals Employment Trends
Jobsplus Malta: Foreign Nationals Employment Trends

Romania — General Inspectorate for Immigration
Romanian Immigration Authority: 2026 work authorisations

Romania — OECD International Migration Outlook
OECD: Romania – International Migration Outlook 2025

Croatia — Government integration policy report
Croatia: Employment-related rights of third-country nationals

Hungary — National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing
Hungary: Residence permit for the purpose of employment

Hungary — 2026 amendment to guest-worker rules
Hungary: Amendment to guest-worker residence permit legislation

Immigration legislation can change. The information above reflects the sources available as of August 2026 and should not be treated as individual legal advice. Candidates should verify the applicable rules with the relevant immigration authority, embassy/consulate or qualified immigration professional before applying.